Thursday, April 11, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
For more than six years David Riggins stared at death through drugged and deluded eyes for murdering a man in Las Vegas.
He had been given the death penalty despite his history of psychotic episodes and delusions, which included claims that he was the son of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy.
Riggins' mental state, however, turned to his advantage as his attorneys fought the conviction all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the jury verdict and ordered a new trial.
The high court ruled that Riggins had been improperly drugged with anti-psychotic medication for his trial. A new trial was ordered but that again could have resulted in a death sentence.
Now, although still psychotic and medicated, the 39-year-old man no longer is facing death by lethal injection for the slaying he committed in November 1987.
He pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and robbery charges in a plea bargain that will result, at most, in a life prison sentence with no possibility of parole.
District Judge Joseph Bonaventure also has the option of giving Riggins a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years when the killer is sentenced May 31. An additional 30-year sentence is possible on the robbery count.
In court, Riggins displayed none of the emotionless, slow responses characteristic of his prior medications. The new drugs he is taking seemingly had little effect on him other than to suppress the psychotic outbursts he had displayed.
Riggins admitted to Bonaventure that he had stabbed Paul Wade 32 times in November 1987 in the victim's Las Vegas apartment.
Answering the judge's questions clearly and quickly, Riggins said he understands the plea bargain and agrees with it. His attorney, Tony Sgro, said he has had numerous conversations with Riggins in past months and assured the judge that the defendant knows what is going on.
Before his original trial, Riggins had requested that the heavy tranquilizers he had been given be discontinued because, he said, it would give the jury a different picture of his mental state than it was at the time of the murder.
He added that being under the influence of drugs made it hard for him to work with his lawyer.
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